Is the title 'Ajahn' a monk who is only in the Thai forest traditions?. Is 'Ajahn' and 'Bhante' pretty much the same thing? I'm quite liking listening to Ajahn Sumedho at the moment, he seems very wise.

"The original heart/mind shines like pure, clear water with the sweetest taste. But if the heart is pure, is our practice over? No, we must not cling even to this purity. We must go beyond all duality, all concepts, all bad, all good, all pure, all impure. We must go beyond self and nonself, beyond birth and death. When we see with the eye of wisdom, we know that the true Buddha is timeless, unborn, unrelated to any body, any history, any image. Buddha is the ground of all being, the realization of the truth of the unmoving mind.” Ajahn Chah

Ajahn is Thai for teacher, so it is used also in non-Buddhist contexts. Since it's a Thai word it has no relevance outside of a Thai context (and no formal significance), but of course a large percentage of Western monks were trained in Thailand, hence the common use of the term.

In my experience with Thai monastics, monks of 10 years or more are commonly referred to as Ajahn, particularly when they have a teaching role. It would be unusual to refer to a "younger" monk as "Ajahn".

Ok cool thanks. I may look more into the thai tradition as it's seems more straightforward.

"The original heart/mind shines like pure, clear water with the sweetest taste. But if the heart is pure, is our practice over? No, we must not cling even to this purity. We must go beyond all duality, all concepts, all bad, all good, all pure, all impure. We must go beyond self and nonself, beyond birth and death. When we see with the eye of wisdom, we know that the true Buddha is timeless, unborn, unrelated to any body, any history, any image. Buddha is the ground of all being, the realization of the truth of the unmoving mind.” Ajahn Chah

mikenz66 wrote:Ajahn is Thai for teacher, so it is used also in non-Buddhist contexts. Since it's a Thai word it has no relevance outside of a Thai context, but of course a large percentage of Western monks were trained in Thailand, hence the common use of the term.

In my experience with Thai monastics, monks of 10 years or more are commonly referred to as Ajahn, particularly when they have a teaching role. It would be unusual to refer to a "younger" monk as "Ajahn".

Mike

that's my understanding as well, Ajahn is a Thai title for a monk who has been ordained for atleast 10 years.

Bhante, i believe, means venerable sir and is a title used to show respect.

"It's easy for us to connect with what's wrong with us... and not so easy to feel into, or to allow us, to connect with what's right and what's good in us."

It's important to note that Ajahn is Thai word, whereas Bhante is Pali and so makes sense as a polite form of address when speaking with any Theravada monk (of any length of ordination). Addressing a monk from Sri Lanka as "Ajahn" wouldn't really make sense, whereas addressing Ajahn Sumedho as "Bhante" would be fine.